The Gospel according to Luke (Skywalker)

Is Star Wars about the emperor being given the shaft? No. It is about a young man with great potential wanting to do whatever it takes to hold on to someone he holds dear, and becomes a force so destructive that he hurts the one he originally set out to save. It is about a man who sees no potential for redemption in himself. It is about that man's son, who doesn't know about his background, but like his father he longs to escape from a dull and tedious life and be someone great and important. He learns that saving the galaxy involves more than good intentions and a desire for excitement and adventure. And he comes to understand something that even his teachers do not, and his father had likewise failed to learn: that evil cannot be overcome by killing it, when that involves becoming what you set out to destroy in the other. Evil is overcome when you find the good in one that everyone hates, and find a way of bringing it back into the light.

That is Star Wars' story. It is about redemption. It is powerful and profound and multifaceted and complex. And that is why I appreciate it so much.

Related posts from Exploring Our Matrix:

In the real world, do you believe that humans have to be redeemed from something?

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/exploringourmatrix/ James F. McGrath

Yes. I don’t think that people have to be strong with the Force or fly a TIE fighter in order to need to find their way back from entanglement in evil – and to need help in order to do so.

T. Webb

I thought we were more progressive than to use meaningless terms like “evil” and “good”. And, as often has been mentioned on this blog, we are beyond remedial ideas like “atonement for sins.” What I’m saying is, this quote/post is really a subversive (or is it even subversive?) attack on evangelicalism more than anything. That’s fine, but making fun of evangelicalism is so easy, it’s like making fun of the Star Wars prequels. It’s so easy to do, it’s just not fun anymore.

guest

But wasn’t the Emperor’s evil overcome by killing him, and then blowing up the Death Star?

I don’t count the prequels as Star Wars movies (because they’re terrible) so to me Star Wars is about Luke’s journey to master the force and Leia’s journey to beat the Empire and win the hand of Han Solo.